TCAF Welcomes Esteemed Manga Creator Inio Asano to the 2018 Festival!

TORONTO, CANADA—The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is proud to announce that acclaimed Japanese manga creator Inio Asano will participate in TCAF as a Featured Guest of the 2018 Festival, to be held May 12-13, 2018, in Toronto Canada. Asano will travel from Japan to Canada in support of the new manga Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, the first volume of which will be published in English by VIZ Media this April.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Asano-sensei to TCAF,” said Christopher Butcher, the Festival’s Artistic Director. “Inio Asano has been one of my favorite mangaka since VIZ released solanin in English, a book I absolutely love. Inio Asano has a wide variety of stand-alone manga and series in print, and manga fans and TCAF’s audience of graphic novel and alternative comics fans will find much to love.”

Asano will debut the new speculative fiction series Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction at TCAF, and it will join VIZ Media’s other English-language Asano releases including the heartbreaking romance solanin, the magical-realist 2-volume What A Wonderful World, and the gripping and dysfunctional 7-volume slice-of-life Goodnight Punpun. Additionally, Asano’s experimental horror Nijigahara Holograph has been published by Fantagraphics Books, and his difficult coming-of-age A Girl on the Shore has been published by Vertical Inc., marking a truly diverse range of in-print work for English readers to enjoy.

“We’re really so fortunate that Asano-sensei had a break in his busy production schedule,” Butcher noted. “We’re grateful to Shogakukan and VIZ Media for all of their help in arranging this rare visit. We sincerely hope readers will take this opportunity to meet a manga legend in person!”

Asano’s participation in TCAF is his first-ever visit to North America and will be marked by participation in many aspects of Festival programming. Fans in attendance can expect to attend a special on-stage interview featuring the author and participate in exclusive autograph sessions. Asano will also prepare a special live-drawing demonstration as part of TCAF’s Word Balloon Academy professional development programming. Inio Asano’s complete range of in-print manga will also be available for purchase through various outlets at the festival.

Stay in Touch!

Inio Asano joins the ranks of more than two dozen already announced Featured Guests for 2018 and more than 350 exhibiting creators and publishers, with many more still to be announced! Visit TCAF online for up-to-the-minute updates.

Please include in your listings. The Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2018, Saturday May 12, 9am-5pm, and Sunday May 13, 10am-5pm, @ Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street. Attendance is FREE to the public. Select guest bios and images are available upon request. Please send all inquiries to media@torontocomics.com.

ABOUT INIO ASANO

Inio Asano, a bona fide earthling, was born in Ibaraki, Japan, in 1980. In 2001, his short story “Uchu kara Konnichiwa” (Hello from Outer Space) won the first Sunday GX Rookie Prize. Later, GX published his series Subarashii Sekai, available in English from VIZ Media as What a Wonderful World! His other works include Hikari no Machi (City of Light), Nijigahara Holograph and Umibe no Onna no Ko (A Girl on the Shore), as well as solanin and Goodnight Punpun, also available from VIZ Media.

ABOUT DEAD DEAD DEMON’S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

“It’s just an everyday apocalypse. Three years ago, the aliens invaded Tokyo. Nothing was ever the same again. But after a while, even impending doom starts to feel ordinary. The Japan Self-Defense Forces are still looking for a way to combat the alien threat, but so far conventional weapons have had no effect. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional.

Meanwhile, Kadode Koyama and her best friend avidly track the aliens’ movements on social media and less enthusiastically study for college entrance exams. When the end of the world looms overhead, you learn to take things one step at a time.”

Established in 1986, VIZ Media is the premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing. Along with its popular digital magazine WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, DRAGON BALL, SAILOR MOON, and POKÉMON, VIZ Media offers an extensive library of titles and original content in a wide variety of book and video formats, as well as through official licensed merchandise. Owned by three of Japan’s largest publishing and entertainment companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media is dedicated to bringing the best titles for English-speaking audiences worldwide.

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival takes place in 2018 at Toronto Reference Library, The Marriott Bloor Yorkville, and The Masonic Temple in the Bloor/Yonge neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world. Other Festival events include readings, interviews, panels, workshops, gallery shows, art installations, and much more. The full program and list of participating creators will be at torontocomics.com closer to the date of the Festival.

SPONSORS & PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival would not be possible without the assistance of our sponsors and partners, including presenting sponsor Toronto Public Library and primary sponsor The Beguiling Books & Art.

TCAF is produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council.

We would also like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. / Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Seneca College is a proud Sponsor of TCAF 2018.

TCAF would like to thank Festival sponsor VIZ Media, and Shogakukan Inc., for their support in arranging Inio Asano’s trip to Canada.

Sponsorship opportunities for TCAF 2018 are still available, please email us at: contact@torontocomics.com for more info.